[pure-silver] Re: what is a "work print"?
- From: Claudio Bonavolta <claudio@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:56:25 +0100
----- Message d'origine -----
De: Shannon Stoney <shannonstoney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 10:49:12 -0600
Sujet: [pure-silver] what is a "work print"?
À: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>I am getting ready to enter a show for Holgas and pinhole cameras
>called the Krappy Kamera show. It's an annual deal. The juror this
>year is Jill Enfield.
>
>Anyway, she wants to look at work prints, that is, prints no larger
>than 8.5" x11". That makes sense to me for digital prints, but I don't
>understand how it works for silver prints. I guess you could have an
>8x10 work print where you were figuring out the contrast, etc, and then
>make a bigger print after you figured out the contrast, but does
>anybody really do that? You would have to figure out the exposure all
>over again for the big print, unless you had figured out ahead of time
>that the exposure for an 11x14 print is always x times the exposure for
>an 8x10 print.
>
>I have never learned this way of working. It's a different work flow.
>Does anybody on this list do that?
>
>I can make some "work prints" to send to this show. That's not a
>problem. But I'm wondering: is this a more efficient way to work than
>starting at the size you really want, with test strips, etc?
>
>--shannon
There are two aspects in your question:
- the "work" print
- starting with another size for the preliminary tests
Work print
I'm not sure Jill's definition of a work print is the same we usually have.
I suspect Jill is asking for small prints *without* heavy darkroom/digital work
on them so as to judge the basic picture and not the darkroom skills, either
analog or digital, of the photographer.
A traditional "work" print is a straight print without dodging/burning meant to
decide which parts have to be manipulated.
This print usually reproduces the whole range of values present on the negative
and may be pretty low-contrast depending in the negative.
You may imagine all prints made before obtaining the final one could also be
considered as work prints too.
Resizing
It's pretty easy to calculate the new exposure for a differently sized print if
you know the parameters of the previous one and given your exposure tool (i.e.
enlarger) is consistent between different exposures.
Others gave you already the formula.
Without using an exposure meter, I often start from the contact print of my
negatives (usually 35mm) which all have the exposure conditions written on,
then select the final size, adapt the contrast and calculate the new exposure.
What I usually obtain first shot is a good work print to start with before the
final improvements (which is the most important part of the job anyway).
To speed up the process, I did the same as Nicholas (except I don't sell it)
that is: developing my own tool ...
Being a software developer it was easier for me to use a computerized tool that
integrates resizing, diaphragm changes, filters coefficients (this makes me use
a color head in simple filtering very easy to use), etc ...
I then added some hardware so the software can interact with the real world.
The result is a kind of timer/exposure meter driven by my computer integrating
several functions:
http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/en/photo/darktools.htm
The resizing function can be used without hardware as this is only calculation
and may be helpful to understand how the various parameters interact.
The English software is here:
http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/files/dlabeV3.zip
And you need the interface drivers:
http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/files/U12SetupV118b.exe
There is also a wet side software that includes process monitoring:
http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/files/wlabev3.zip
Is all this necessary ?
Certainly not, but my productivity has increased quite a lot with it.
Not on the best prints as you loose more time in thinking on how to improve
them but, with all others, not so good pictures, the gain is appreciable.
I also throw much less paper to the trash ...
Anyway, the best method is the one you master and feel confident with.
Claudio Bonavolta
http://www.bonavolta.ch
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